Pastor's Corner ~ The Lazaruses in our Midst

A story was told about a man who died and went to see St. Peter for a meeting. In that meeting, St. Peter gave the guy only two choices: heaven or hell. Since the guy was not very schooled in the faith and not very religious when he was still on earth, he wanted to first see what heaven and hell were like before he made his decision for eternity. St. Peter told him that once he made the choice, that’s it—he could not change it. So, St. Peter showed him first what heaven is like—the guy saw people praying, singing, just really joyful; it was very serene. The people were really warm and nice; however, when he looked around, he didn’t really recognize anybody so he told St. Peter, “I don’t think heaven is for me because it is too quiet, and the silence is deafening; plus, I don’t see any of my friends.” “Let’s take a look what hell is like.” Miles away from the center of hell, they could already hear people enjoying loud music turned up to maximum volume. The guy got really excited; when arrived, he saw very familiar faces. He told St. Peter, “I think I am home. This is me; I will stay here.” So, St. Peter bade him farewell, After a few months, St. Peter decided to pay him a visit. He found the guy in really bad shape, very sick and suffering. As soon as he saw St. Peter, he asked him, “where is the exciting stuff that I found here in hell when I got here the first time? I thought it would be here forever.” St. Peter told him, “Oh, that was just the marketing and advertising department at work”!
The story above might not be an accurate theology of heaven or hell but, like the guy in the story, the rich man in the Gospel thought that wealth, honor and prestige were all there is to life. He was oblivious to the fact that our ultimate flourishing is yet to come. But what is even worse is for him to be completely absorbed in himself, not being able to see anyone around him, unmindful of the presence of Lazarus, who was in front of him begging for scraps of food. In Dante’s Inferno, when he travelled to the lowest part and found himself at the mouth of Satan, he described the place as extremely cold — the coldest place that one can ever be. It is cold because Satan — being so full of himself, being so extremely and exaggeratedly self-absorbed, narcissistic – can’t possibly exude any kind of warmth. In fact, Dante said that Satan was so focused on himself — it’s all about me..me..me..me…there is no such thing as the “other”— that he didn’t even realize that someone was passing through his place. We always have a picture of hell as full of fire, always burning, just like what we heard from the Gospel, but it can also be very cold because it is characterized by self-absorption, selfishness, egoism – no warmth, just like rich man in the parable. And just like what is hinted in the Gospel today, heaven or hell starts right here in this world.
This parable is an invitation to genuine conversion – that is to truly embrace what the gospel is all about. Jesus was telling his immediate audience, the Pharisees, that authentic love for God doesn’t just mean complying with the external obligations of my faith, or that I can intellectually understand the complexities of my religion (remember that the Pharisees were the experts of the law), or to see faith purely in terms of rituals, smokes and incense. But, it truly involves becoming vulnerable to the difficulties and sufferings of people around me — to feel shocked, moved and compelled to do
something whenever there is injustice, whenever there is abuse in whatever form. God does not ask us to carry the burden of the world; He does not expect us to be the
Messiah. We have only one Messiah. But we are all called to make sure that we are always in right relationships with others and to do the best that we can to alleviate the suffering of others. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." At times, we don’t have to look too far – sometimes within our families, there are people like Lazarus who are waiting for a scrap of mercy, waiting to be recognized and be seen, or probably waiting to be visited because no family member has seen them or visited for ages. It is interesting that the name Lazarus in Hebrew actually means, “The one God cares for.” And Lazarus here as poor doesn’t only represent those who are materially poor, but also those who are suffering from all other kinds of poverty – a growing son or daughter who is waiting to be trusted by their parents; a wife who in all these years have been begging for the love and respect of her husband; a husband who is asking for understanding and appreciation for his great sacrifices for his family; a prison convict who is pleading for a second chance after being released from jail; and the list could go on and on.
Jesus reminds us not to make the same mistake as the rich man — he lost his opportunity to make it right. This reminds me of a line that I read before, “it is easier to love the whole humanity than one’s neighbor.” We do not love a concept or idea like humanity – we love and care for individual people, people with specific names. The rich man in the parable wasted his opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. He was not being asked to solve the problems of his entire community or the world, but he was only asked to be a good neighbor – to be compassionate to those around him. When he wanted to make it right, it was too late. God only gives us one life, and we really have to make the most out of it. There is no time to waste when it comes to loving,
forgiving and caring. Who is the Lazarus or the Lazaruses in our own lives who are waiting and asking us to see and recognize them? I have said this before already—at the end of our lives, God won’t ask us so many questions. I don’t think he will ask how much money did we have in the bank or what brand of clothes we wore. But, he will ask how much we loved because that is what truly matters in the end because that is who He is—God is love. And if we share in His very image and likeness, then it is also who we are.
– Fr. Cary